Four years after: Investigators fail to solve SFI burglary

CEBU, Philippines - It has been four years since the burglary incident at the office of Sinulog Foundation Incorporated where over P1.7 million was stolen, but the perpetrators remain unknown.

Ricky Ballesteros, SFI executive director, said they remain clueless as to who was responsible for the crime. He remains optimistic, however, that the crime will be solved.

  “As of now wala pa gyud and I hope ma- sulbad na gyud siya,” Ballesteros said.

He assured that stricter security measures have been implemented to avoid the same incident from happening again. According to him, they have installed at least 40 closed-circuit television  cameras at the Cebu City Sports Center where the Sinulog Grandstand is located to ensure that all angles are being covered. 

Ballesteros said they have also added security features in the Sinulog tickets and IDs.

“Ini’g sulod ninyo, kung dili mo-function ang usa ka security feature, naa pa mi lain nga mga additional feature nga kami ray nakahibawo,” Ballesteros said.

“So when you come in, make sure you have your IDs and dili ni ipasa-pasa, maka- detect mi kung kanang ID kay gikan nana siya sa sulod,” he added.

Ballesteros said the implementation of stricter security measures this year is among the lessons that the Sinulog organizers learned from the 2012 burglary incident.

“In 2012, that was the most successful Sinulog. It’s very flawless (but) just because of that incident na-tainted siya,” Ballesteros said. — (FREEMAN)